Performers & Creators Lab

Special Treat! Sit back and enjoy this magical contemporary tale by author, Heather Shaw, amplified by the backdrop of the musical perfection of composer Dan Cantrell. Read by Kimeiko Rae Vision, and Holly and Heather Shaw and followed by a discussion with dancers from Dancing Together Apart, Renee Naleppa and Shoshanna.
Interested in collaborating with Dancing Together Apart? Click here to visit the website and fill out an application>>
Get books, podcasts, creative assessments, and more free resources for artists at www.PerformersandCreatorsLab.com
The Guest Author, Heather Shaw: Heather Shaw is a writer, editor, bookkeeper, and lindy hopper living in Berkeley, CA with her husband and 8-year-old son, River. She’s the fiction editor at the new pro-SF zine, Persistent Visions (persistentvisionsmag.com). She’s had short fiction published in Strange Horizons, The Year’s Best Fantasy, Escape Pod, PodCastle, and other nice places. She’s been a featured author at the SF in SF Reading series in San Francisco and read her poetry in front of disgruntled grunge concert-goers at Lollapalooza back when it was a thing.
The Host Holly Shaw, CHT is a performance coach, creativity researcher and stand up comedian and has spent a lifetime in film, T.V. and on professional stages all over the world as an actor, dancer, and director. She has helped hundreds of artists, from Emmy award winning and Grammy nominated artists to world class choreographers overcome their anxiety, stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create original work and totally crush it on stage again and again without feeling like they're selling out or losing their sanity. In 2016, Shaw wrote and published, The Creative Formula: Compose, Choreograph, and Capture Your Masterpiece which has become an Amazon bestseller. The Performers & Creators Lab podcast was named one of 2019's most outstanding podcasts by Databird Research. She teaches regularly at the Screen Actors Guild Conservatories in L.A. and SF and runs creative laboratory workshops like the Comedy Lab Open Mic. Follow her on Instagram to stay up to date: @hollyshawspritelyDan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful...quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian. His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. His Orchestral music was recently featured by the Oakland Symphony, and his chamber music was performed at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the arts, and in Washington DC’s Kennedy Center. Dan also recently composed a suite of choral music performed by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir as part of their yearly concert series. Visit bellowhead.com

I got the chance to catch up with comedian, Andrew Orolfo who just appeared on the James Corden Tonight Show and festival producer, Shoshanna Howard to talk about the comedy lifestyle and Oakland's first ever Comedy Festival!
Click here to get tickets and more info about Oakland's Comedy Festival 2019>>
Find out more about Holly Shaw and the Performers & Creators Lab Podcast

Israeli comedian, Nina Susman, comes over to my house for a candid wine fueled conversation about how we filter ourselves as comedians, what it's like to live on a kibbutz and more! Listen all the way through to hear a clip of Nina's stand up comedy!
Music by Dan Cantrell
LIVE EVENTS: The Comedy Lab Open Mic
Have you heard about the Comedy Lab Open Mic workshops? A free-stylin' fly by the seat of your pants creative event where you write new jokes and perform them all in one night. Click here to learn more about upcoming Comedy Labs>>
Discover Your Creative DNA
Are you a Visionary, an Explorer, or a Strategist? Take the free Creative DNA Quiz right now to find out>>
Learn more about the Performers & Creators Lab>>
Other Episodes You May Like:

The Comedy Chronicles
Women In Hollywood Warriors from within with Comedian, Jackie Loeb
Art, Activism and Sharing the Stage with Comedian, Nina G

About Guest, Nina Sussman
Nina Susman is an Israeli comedian and actress who performs regularly. Her sometimes shocking and no filter comedy keeps audiences on their toes as she infects crowds with laughter and dirty glee. Follow her on instagram @Nina_Susman
About Your Host
Holly Shaw, CHT is a performance coach, creativity researcher and stand up comedian. Growing up in Indianapolis, IN she convinced her parents she needed to go to Chicago to get her own agent when she was 14 years old and has spent a lifetime in film, T.V. and on professional stages all over the world as an actor, dancer, and director.
Spending the last 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, making art and learning the art of healing, she now works as a Creativity Coach and a Certified Hypnotherapist and has helped hundreds of artists, from Emmy award winning and Grammy nominated artists to world class choreographers overcome their anxiety, stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create original work and totally crush it onstage again and again without feeling like they're selling out or losing their sanity.
In 2016, Shaw wrote and released her book, The Creative Formula: Compose, Choreograph, and Capture Your Masterpiece which has become an Amazon bestseller. In 2018 she launched the Performers & Creators Lab podcast which was named one of 2019's most outstanding podcasts by Databird Research. She teaches regularly at the SAG/AFTRA offices in L.A. and SF and runs creative laboratory workshops like the Comedy Lab Open Mic once a month at Monaghan's on the Hill in Oakland. Follow her on Instagram to stay up to date: @hollyshawspritely

Comedian and coach, Jennifer Mason and I talk about how to make the best out of online zoom shows, the transformational power of comedy and how everyone has a good "five minute set" inside of them. Listen as she explains how she uses stand-up comedy as a transformational tool and hear tips for how to make the most out of this COVID age of show business. Music by Dan Cantrell.
Upcoming Events: Register for online events live with Holly Shaw, free during the shelter-in-place orders: The Comedy Lab Open Mic on Monday nights and the Group Hypnosis for Calm and Clarity During a Crisis on Sunday mornings.
Other Episodes You May Like:

​E61 No Filter Comedy with comedian, Nina Susman

​E11 Activism, Art, and Sharing the Stage with comedian, Nina G

More About Jennifer Mason
In the process of finding her voice as a 50-something divorced mom of two, Jennifer found unexpected freedom and joy through doing comedy. So she founded Laugh Your Best Life and now performs monthly and coaches other midlife women to overcome stage fright through the techniques of stand up comedy so they can become confident and memorable speakers in a supportive group program. She also helps speakers who want to up level their talks focus their message and shape it into succinct stories with punchlines. Find out more at LaughYourBestLife.com
About Your Host
Holly Shaw, Certified Hypnotherapist is a performance coach, creativity researcher and stand up comedian and has spent a lifetime in film, T.V. and on professional stages all over the world as an actor, dancer, and director. She has helped hundreds of artists, from Emmy award winning and Grammy nominated artists to world class choreographers overcome their anxiety, stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create original work and totally crush it onstage again and again without feeling like they're selling out or losing their sanity. In 2016, Shaw wrote and published, The Creative Formula: Compose, Choreograph, and Capture Your Masterpiece which has become an Amazon bestseller. The Performers & Creators Lab podcast was named one of 2019's most outstanding podcasts by Databird Research. She teaches regularly at the Screen Actors Guild Conservatories in L.A. and SF and runs creative laboratory workshops like the Comedy Lab Open Mic. Follow her on Instagram to stay up to date: @hollyshawspritely
About the Composer

Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful...quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian. His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front. Learn more at www.bellowhead.com.

The incomparable Bay Area comedian, Chris Riggins! We talk about Dave Chappelle, his rapping career, fashion for men, merch, comedy of course and so much more.
Come see Chris Riggins at the Comedy Edge on the Oakland waterfront, Saturday, April 2nd, 2022. Click here for tickets and info.About Chris Riggins
"Chris Riggins has taken the art of stand up comedy and chose to stand out amongst a sea of other talented artists. From producing unique shows such as the Outdoor Comedy Club, opening for Dave Chappelle his first time on stage, to featuring and headlining at major clubs and colleges throughout the United States, the sky is truly the limit for Chris. . . . While many comics can make you laugh, few can make you reflect humorously on life experiences the way that Chris does." - Los Angeles Music Awards

Go download Chris's Fifth First Album now. For booking inquiries, please email: [email protected]

About Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as the newly released book, Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers. Currently she lives with her son in Oakland, CA where she runs and performs in the live weekly comedy showcase on the waterfront, the Comedy Edge. To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com
Composer
Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful...quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian. His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Visit bellowhead.com